Valleyview Secondary School Assignment Suggests Racism Is A Right-Wing Belief

The school is investigating the assignment.

A Kamloops, B.C. father is speaking out after his son showed him a school assignment that labelled racism as a right-wing belief.

Matt DeFouw posted a photo of the assignment in question on Facebook, and said his son, a student at Valleyview Secondary School, texted him about it on Monday.

The worksheet contains several descriptors and students were meant to answer if the viewpoints were to the right or left on the spectrum.

"A person who is racist" is on the right, according to the assignment.

Other right-wing characteristics according to the sheet were "a person who believes that women should stay at home and be mothers," "a person who believes that convicted murderers should be hanged" and "a person who believes that Canada should restrict immigration."

Left wing ideas included "a person who believes the school strap should be abolished," "a person who believes in higher minimum wage" and "a person who believes that all major industries should be owned by the state."

You have conservatives... being painted as misogynist, racist xenophobes who want to enact a brutal police state that hang people.Matt DeFouw

"This is 1984-esque propaganda at its very worst. It is essentially molding the next generation of voters to believe that Conservatives or people 'on the right' are misogynist racists who hate immigrants and want to enact a brutal police state," DeFouw wrote on the post.

"You have conservatives... being painted as misogynist, racist xenophobes who want to enact a brutal police state that hang people," he told Global News.

Students at Valleyview also told the broadcaster that they were uncomfortable with the assignment.

"I feel giving us a worksheet like that, it's not really fair," one student said.

School district investigating

DeFouw contacted the school about the assignment and said his conversation with the principal went really well and that he was satisfied with the handling of the issue.

"I told her I don't think we should be teaching divisive identity politics in schools. I don't think that we should be polarizing students and creating us versus them and good versus bad based on political bent," he said in an interview with Kamloops This Week.

"Great administrators. They seemed to share why I was concerned about the assignment, so we're working on a plan so we can make sure everyone moves forward beyond this point," he also told CFJC Today.